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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23843284">both a little scared</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/liarlagoon/pseuds/liarlagoon'>liarlagoon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Character Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, sort of an abrupt ending</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 19:48:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,866</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23843284</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/liarlagoon/pseuds/liarlagoon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Connor is living in an abandoned house in the woods when he stumbles upon Cole Anderson during a thunderstorm. </p><p>Mostly gen. </p><p>NOTE: This story is unfinished and abandoned.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cole Anderson &amp; Connor, Connor/Markus (Detroit: Become Human)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>79</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>both a little scared</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Loosely based on a beauty and the beast au by synekdokee (@synturtle) and HC (@Blazing_away) on twitter, the start of which can be found here: https://twitter.com/SynTurtle/status/1184428574700388354?s=20</p><p>The original is HankCon post failed revolution and this is RK1000 post successful revolution. I did not make it very far into anything shippy before dropping it, so it's mostly gen. </p><p>Oh, and Cole has a prosthetic leg.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Thunder cracks in the sky as Cole stumbles through the woods, lost and in search of shelter or something he recognizes, something he can use to get back to where his dad is waiting for him. Cold and fear manifest in shivers jolting through his body every few moments, and his progress is exceptionally slow as a result. He has no idea which direction he came from or where he's going, just hopes that if he keeps moving someone will find him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another few minutes of waterlogged walking later, he trips and falls, and it feels like a monumental task to get back up, especially not knowing if it will do him any good to carry on. He drags himself to sit under a tree and decides to try once more screaming for help. No one answers. Hot tears track down his face, and his chest shudders with the sob that pushes its way out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's only when his throat feels shredded and he's half convinced himself that no one is looking for him that he finally hears movement. He pushes himself to his feet in halting movements, leaning against the tree trunk for support. He sniffs and wipes his nose, then calls out, voice thick with tears, "Hello?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hears the sound of retreating footsteps, and he cries, "No! Wait, please! I need help!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The footsteps stop and then slowly approach again, and eventually a man steps into Cole's line of sight, a wary expression on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why are you out here?" the man asks, stopping with some distance remaining between them. "The nearest town is more than forty miles away."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I got lost." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How did you get lost </span>
  <em>
    <span>forty miles </span>
  </em>
  <span>away from any human civilization? Where did you come from?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, um, our car made a funny noise so my dad stopped to check it, and I went into the woods to pee, and then it suddenly started raining </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> hard, and then I couldn't find the road again." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man tenses at that, looking around like someone is going to jump out of the bushes and attack him at any moment. "Your father is here? You have to go back."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cole gives an irritated huff. "I just said I </span>
  <em>
    <span>couldn't</span>
  </em>
  <span>." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man raises an arm and points to Cole's left. "The nearest highway is two miles in that direction. Go find your dad and don't tell anyone that you saw someone here." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why not?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man turns to leave without answering, and Cole takes a couple of steps after him. "Wait! What if I get lost again? I can't walk two miles in a straight line!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Not my problem."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Just come with me if you know where it is! Please!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A choked sob bursts out of Cole's chest, and the man freezes. "</span>
  <em>
    <span>Please</span>
  </em>
  <span>, mister. I don't wanna die." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man turns stiffly back to him, face skeptical. He studies Cole for a moment, and then his face softens and he sighs, sounding defeated. "I suppose these conditions would be dangerous for a child."  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A particularly harsh shiver wracks through Cole, and he says, through chattering teeth, "If you won't take me back to the road, then at least take me with you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I... don't think that's the best idea." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cole stomps closer as best he can, an awkward limp with the cold plastic of his leg pressing into the skin of his thigh, but even so the man tenses, watching him like a rabbit watches a wolf. He opens his mouth to unleash some of his nine-year-old fear-driven anger on this man, but a weird shimmer on his face catches his eye, and he stops and points. "What's that?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man ducks his head as if to hide, but since Cole is shorter than him by a significant margin, it only makes it easier to see. A portion of the man's face is gleaming white, hard plastic under false skin, and one of his eyes is almost entirely black with just a thin blue ring where a human's cornea would be. The exposed plastic is shot through with little blue streaks, in a pattern that suggests it was once badly damaged and hasn't fully healed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're an android," Cole gasps, eyes going wide. The man flinches back as if struck and Cole holds up his hand. "Wait! Don't go!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The android waits, distrustful gaze tracking Cole's every move, as he probably had been since he'd arrived. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"My dad says I have to be careful around androids now," Cole starts slowly, "but you don't seem dangerous to me. You just seem… scared." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The android stares at him. Eventually, he asks, "What's your name?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Cole." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay, Cole. My name is Connor. You can come and stay in my house until the storm passes, but then you have to leave and never tell anyone you saw me. Do you understand?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cole grabs onto the android's sleeve, and Connor jumps but doesn't shake him off. "Got it!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Connor leads them through the forest until they come upon a large manor that may have once been prestigious but now is missing roof tiles and siding, drafty and overgrown with vines and moss. The front door opens easily enough, and Connor leads them inside to a much better maintained interior. There's a fireplace near the door, with a pile of logs stacked next to it and a lighter set on a little side table. Connor starts a fire in it as soon as they get inside. The carpet has been stripped to reveal a cold concrete floor beneath, but there's a pile of blankets right in front of the fireplace, and Connor settles Cole into them to warm up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They both sit silently in front of the fire until Cole complains that he's hungry, and then Connor gets up and searches through the house until he finds a few cans of soup buried in a pantry that are miraculously still in date to heat over the hearth and a spoon from an old toy kitchen set for Cole to eat with. The food and warmth lulls him to sleep, and Connor follows shortly after. Morning comes and the storm still rages, and when Connor wakes he finds Cole sitting at a window, looking out with a troubled expression on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"My dad is probably really worried. I hope he doesn't get lost trying to find me." He pauses, serious and determined in the way that children are when they want to do something reckless. "Maybe I should try to go back. What if he's still there, waiting?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turns to Connor, expression abruptly shifting into something pleading. "Will you </span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span> take me back?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No," Connor says, soft and apologetic. "I'll get you close enough to hear the road noise once the storm passes, but you'll just get lost again if you go out now."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cole huffs and climbs back into the blanket pile in front of the few embers that remain of the fire, careful to avoid touching Connor. He'd aimed a jab to the android's side to garner his attention while they rested in front of the fire the previous night, and Connor had shouted in pain and rolled away, clutching his torso. Cole followed after him, frantic apologies spewing from his mouth and his hands fluttering awkwardly around Connor, unsure where was safe to touch until he finally settled on petting the undamaged side of his head. Connor lifted his shirt once the pain died down to show a gruesome spiderweb of cracks lining all of the exposed chassis. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cole had frowned and touched his fingers very gently to one of the smaller cracks, the synthetic skin of a prosthetic pulling back to reveal a material similar to Connor's body. "I thought androids were supposed to be able to heal themselves. My arm heals when I hurt it." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Healing burns up thirium, and I don't have any to spare." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Then go get more! I don't understand why you don't just go into town." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Connor had just tipped his head back against the floor and shaken his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They stay in the blanket nest for the most part, in an effort to keep the cold out. They pass the time by telling stories. Cole talks the most, telling Connor all about his friends back home, about his dad, about school and the teachers he likes and the one he hates, about what he wants to be when he grows up. Connor gives a few stories of his own, of a few of his friends whose names Cole thinks sound familiar but can't place. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What do you normally do here, all by yourself?" Cole asks at one point, shifting around to face the android. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I… read, sometimes," he offers hesitantly, as if that might be the wrong answer. "Collect wood for the fire. Occasionally try to fix what I can around the house." Cole seems satisfied with that answer, and the conversation moves on. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The storm finally starts to ease after two days. When the rain has lightened enough that Connor thinks Cole will be able to hear the road, he starts getting them ready to leave. He's listening to Cole chattering about a TV show he claims Connor would like, so he doesn't hear the footsteps approaching, muted by the soft, wet grass. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The front door opens while Connor is dousing the fire, and a large human man steps through. He turns to face him, and the rational part of him knows that the most logical solution to the question of who this man is and why he's there is that he's Cole's dad, but he sees the gun holstered on the man's hip and his mind goes blank with panic as an image of a different human with a gun on his hip in Cyberlife Tower overlays his vision, blurring the line between memory and reality. He doesn't think, just swings Cole into his arms and runs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man breaks into a run, shouting after him. "Hey! Stop!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Connor, wait!" Cole adds, swatting at his arms. "That's my dad!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cole starts squirming, and his knee knocking into Connor's side is enough to make Connor stumble and drop him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Connor turns back and sees one of the men who tortured him - a man he'd remember killing, when he could think again - quickly approaching, and he aims a fist at his face. It goes wide, and the man tries to grab Connor, to pin his arms to his sides. Connor kicks his knee and hits his nose with an open palm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Daddy!" Cole runs towards them, trying to figure out how to get close. "Connor, stop!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man grunts in pain, but he doesn't stumble back like Connor expected him to. Instead, he uses the momentum of his fall to hook an arm under Connor's knees and knock him to the ground. Connor struggles with the strength of desperation, kicking at the man's torso and clawing at his arms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Connor, </span>
  <em>
    <span>stop</span>
  </em>
  <span>! You're hurting him!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Connor's head jerks up, and his eyes are wild and unfocused. "Cole? What are you doing here? You-- you have to get out!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't know where you think you are, kid, but you need to calm down." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Connor turns back to his tormentor and sees… someone he doesn't recognize. Where before he'd seen brown hair and green eyes, now he sees gray and blue. His struggling falters, then stops. "You're not..." he trails off, sounding dazed. "Who are you?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm Cole's dad. You can call me Hank. I take it he's been with you since I lost him?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He found me outside and let me come back here with him till the storm passed," Cole chimes in, stepping closer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hank is looking at Connor's face now, and he doesn't look happy about it. "I think you need to come back to town with us and get that looked at. I saw when Cole hit you, too. Is there something broken in your stomach area?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Connor shakes his head. Cole frowns at him and says, "Don't lie. Lying is bad. He's hurt really bad, Dad." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Connor tries to twist away, and he lets out a distressed noise when he realizes that Hank had pinned his wrists when he stopped fighting earlier. "Please don't make me go back. I'm not hurting anyone out here." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You need medical attention, Connor," Hank insists. "Nobody is going to hurt you, we just want to take you to a hospital." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Connor struggles against Hank's grip. "Don't lie to me! Nobody is going to help a deviant android! Please, just let me go!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I can't do that, kid. I'm sorry." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Connor tries to kick Hank when he flips him over into his stomach, holding his wrists in one hand behind his back and reaching for a button behind his ear that will trigger involuntary stasis. Connor twists his head and pulls at his arms as hard as he can, but he's weak from months of torture and isolation, and Hank's hand doesn't even budge. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Cole, buddy, I need you to hold his head so he doesn't hurt himself when I open the panel. There's some wiring in there that doesn't feel good to have touched." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Connor fixes Cole with a pleading look. "Please, don't." Cole looks at his dad, then back at Connor. He takes two steps forward and sinks to his knees, holding Connor's head in place as gently as he can. Saline solution drips down Connor's face when he feels Hank depress the panel covering the button so it will slide to the side. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't want to die," he whispers, closing his eyes on the countdown timer that pops up when Hank presses the button.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're not going to die. I won't let anyone hurt you, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>promise</span>
  </em>
  <span>," Cole says, his young voice very serious, and Connor wants it to be true so badly, needs that comfort so desperately, that he lets himself believe it, just for a single moment before everything goes dark. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Jesus," Hank says, when Connor goes limp and his LED spins down into a slow-pulsing blue. Cole sits quietly for a few seconds, and then bursts into tears. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, it's okay, c'mere, son," Hank soothes, moving off of the android and peeling quickly out of his raincoat before pulling his son into his arms. Cole wraps his legs around his waist and his arms around his neck, holding tightly and wetting the shoulder of his jacket with tears and snot. "You scared the shit out of me," he breathes into Cole's hair while his hand rubs circles on his back. "I've been out here looking just about since the storm started." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm sorry, Daddy. I couldn't find the road, and Connor was too scared to take me all the way back." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's okay, muffin. We're alright now." Hank looks down at Connor, still stretched out on the floor. "Did he say anything about what happened to him? It's been a while now since we've called androids deviants. I don't think most of 'em like the term." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cole shakes his head and pats his dad's arm, a silent request to be let down. Hank sets him on the ground, and Cole carefully pushes Connor onto his back. "Wherever he was before was a really bad place," he says, pushing Connor's shirt up so Hank can see the extensive damage. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hank sucks in a sharp breath through his teeth, then lets it out slowly. "I don't think the local hospital is gonna be able to handle that. We're gonna have to take him back to Detroit with us." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's a long walk back to the car, nearly three miles, made longer by Connor's weight in Hank's arms. They make it there eventually, and Hank lays Connor out along the bench seat in the rear of his car and buckles Cole into the front. He drives even more carefully than normal, hyper aware of the unfastened passenger in his backseat and Cole in the front, too short for the seatbelt to be an effective safety measure in the event of an accident. They make it back safely and deliver Connor to the android hospital that Jericho owns and operates. Cole insists on staying at his bedside until he wakes up, and they're joined shortly after they arrive by none other than Markus. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn't even acknowledge the humans in the room at first, just steps straight up to the bed where Connor lays, a joyful, disbelieving expression on his face. He places two fingers with the skin drawn back against Connor's LED, and a shadow falls across his face. He takes his hand away and brushes it gently through the sleeping android's hair, then finally turns to address Hank and Cole. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He's been missing since the revolution. He went to free everyone in Cyberlife Tower and never came back. We thought he was dead." He touches Connor's face again, as if assuring himself that he's really there, and his voice sounds fragile when he speaks again. "Where did you find him?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He found me," Cole says from where he sits next to the bed, holding one of Connor's hands. Markus shoots him an inquisitive look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Cole got lost in the woods on our way back from visiting the nature reserve up north," Hank cuts in. "Real nasty storm blew through, took me nearly two days to find him. Said he'd been with Connor the whole time when I finally did." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Markus nods, taking a seat on Connor's other side and wrapping his fingers around his free hand. "Thank you. For bringing him back." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sure." Hank scratches his neck awkwardly. "Sorry it had to be unconscious. Not sure who he thought I was, but he tried to take Cole and run as soon as he saw me." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's probably for the best," Markus says quietly. "His wounds are very old, so I doubt he still fully realized it, but he was in a lot of pain. The nurses are planning to keep him under until they can repair his chest."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How long will that be?" Cole asks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The operation is scheduled for tomorrow morning." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Can we stay here?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Markus hesitates, looks to Hank for help, and Hank can read the desire to be alone plainly on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How about we go home for now and see about coming back tomorrow when he's awake? That sound okay, buddy?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No!" Cole protests, scooting closer to the bed. "We can't leave him alone! What if he's scared when he wakes up?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He's not going to be alone. I'm going to stay with him," Markus says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We'll come back tomorrow afternoon," Hank tells Cole, and then, looking at Markus, adds, "If that's okay?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Markus nods, and Cole allows himself to be led out of the room, still pouting but appeased with the promise of seeing Connor again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the humans are gone, Markus opens a diagnostic interface with Connor again, scrolling slowly through the slew of error codes, clearing what he can to reduce the strain on Connor's system. He sees his stress tick down just slightly, just enough to be clear of critical, and a few warnings disappear as a result. When he lets go, Connor's body has relaxed so slightly that it would be imperceptible to humans, but for Markus it's a relief. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stays there the whole night, barely moving from the position he took when he arrived. North, Simon, and Josh stop by for a few minutes each. North stays the longest; she and Connor had grown close before he disappeared. She sits next to Markus and leans her head on his shoulder, and they keep vigil together for nearly an hour before she's called away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They wheel him into the operation room at 6 am the following morning. It takes them five hours to pick all the little fractured pieces of his broken front panels out of him and repair all the little tears in his thirium lines that the fragments had caused, and then another thirty to install new panels. He's wheeled back into his room just before noon, still unconscious but no longer held there purposefully. Markus is allowed back inside a few minutes later, and the nurses tell him that Connor will wake up when he's ready. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"When he's ready" turns out to be not even fifteen minutes after they get him back - just long enough for his systems to register the new parts and run a scan for functionality, Markus suspects. He bolts upright and his hands fly to the monitoring cable plugged into a port on his chest, and Markus lunges forward to stop him from ripping it out - the last thing he thinks Connor needs is a bunch of nurses rushing in for what looks to them like a flatlining android. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Woah! Easy! You're okay, Connor, easy."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Markus manages to grab his hands, but he keeps pulling at them, trying to scrabble at his chest, so Markus opens an interface. A writhing wall of panic blocks him from sending any reassurances through, so instead he yells into it as loud and urgent as he can. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Connor</em>
  </b>
  <span>!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Connor freezes, and the wall of panic stills and then slowly starts to sink down as his eyes focus on the room's only other occupant. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>… Markus?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Yes. I'm right here. You're safe. Please calm down.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're dead," Connor says aloud, a dizzying wave of disbelief washing through their connection. "I </span>
  <em>
    <span>saw</span>
  </em>
  <span> you. I saw you die." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Markus hears the muted sound of a grenade, and he jumps before he realizes that it came from inside Connor's mind. He squeezes his hand and sends reassurances now that he can, and Connor relaxes minutely. "Whatever you saw wasn't real. I'm okay, and I'm right here." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He catches a flash of noise from Connor, and then a memory skips through, confused and disorienting. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A slew of error messages is scrolling through his vision, and it </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>hurts</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>, his whole body buzzing with electricity, but still he--</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"-- not coming. All the other plastics are in a dump where they belong." </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"No! You're lyi-- ngh!" </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Laughter, as his limbs which have not yet learned to be still press up against the electrified--</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The sound of gunfire and grenades going off, screams and blue blood, and then Markus falls on the tiny screen they show him, blood pooling around him, then North, Josh, Simon, </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>BOOM</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span> as an explosion whites out the screen, and this hurts so much, more than anything else they've done, like when he had his pump regulator ripped out but worse, and he does it intentionally this time, presses his wrists against tHe elEctr#cITy uNt1l--</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Markus pulls Connor against his chest and holds him there tightly as old grief comes back sharp and new and useless, now, because they're alive, they've been alive all this time, and those men stole from him more than just his freedom and peace of mind, stole so much time he could've had, time he spent suffering and alone because he didn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He holds him while he sobs, loud and wretched, clinging to Markus's shirt and letting go of more pain than he ever should've had to hold. </span>
</p>
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